Another downgrade of benefits for FB Silver

Old Dec 17, 2015, 10:39 am
  #16  
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Before i was using *A , and reached TK C+ only because of intercontinental flights with TK/LH. The benefits are ok , as long as you travel with TK, but you dont get as much as FB silvers

I switched to ST and FB , cause AF was cheaper and more convenient than AC, i was quite close from gold last year , i wil try gold for 2016 but i dont see the etra benefits once you are sit in the plane

The real thing that iam worried now is that i dont see any new improvments in the services/products of airlines , only downgrades and lower prices , despite the competition is getting thougher than before
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Old Dec 17, 2015, 1:31 pm
  #17  
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As a Delta Silver (ST Elite) it's a little frustrating but hardly surprising. This brings AF in line with DL in terms of how Silvers are treated. I do hope there will be at least Silver/ST Elite Check In desks at major airports so we don't have to use the general ones.
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Old Dec 17, 2015, 2:14 pm
  #18  
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Originally Posted by natcho
My favourite, so when Boarding the A380 from CDG to JNB next time, they will now have to sort People into 4 Queues:
1. Business class Pax
2. E+ pax in Y
3. E Pax in Y
4. all other Pax

The three Queues System was already wicked, especially as they often manage to signpost contradictive signs for SkyPriority and regular Boarding.

Natcho
you forgot W pax !
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Old Dec 18, 2015, 12:04 am
  #19  
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Originally Posted by Goldorak
you forgot W pax !
... and that for A380s they usually differentiate between upper deck and lower deck queues!
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Old Dec 18, 2015, 6:40 am
  #20  
 
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Bugger, I've had gold or platinum for years and always waited in the the normal queues at AMS

The real issue is the miles downgrade making it harder and harder to get gold or platinum for companies that choose lower class flights. Unless your company has more money than sense, or some kind richie rich businessman, then you'll struggle on KLM. It's like a double punishment, force us down low, then take away what little there is at the bottom.
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Old Dec 18, 2015, 6:45 am
  #21  
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Originally Posted by vexorg
The real issue is the miles downgrade making it harder and harder to get gold or platinum for companies that choose lower class flights.
That has nothing to do with status, or any reduction in Silver benefits. Bonus miles that you receive based on status do not count as Level Miles and therefore your status does not help you requalify any faster. There has been no recent downgrade of mileage earning.
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Old Dec 18, 2015, 7:29 am
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Originally Posted by irishguy28
That has nothing to do with status, or any reduction in Silver benefits. Bonus miles that you receive based on status do not count as Level Miles and therefore your status does not help you requalify any faster. There has been no recent downgrade of mileage earning.
Depends on your definition of recent. It is a double punishment. The loss of flight earning, like only 25% or 50% level miles DOES have an effect on your status.
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Old Dec 18, 2015, 7:35 am
  #23  
 
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Originally Posted by Flying Blue
Access to priority services for Flying Blue Silver members will change, in order to better manage the growing number of travellers using priority services at over 1,000 airports worldwide.
Good! I was thinking just a few weeks ago how diluted SkyPriority had become.

Originally Posted by Flying Blue
At Amsterdam Airport Schiphol this means that passengers who travel to Schengen destinations from departure hall 1 can no longer make use of the dedicated fast-track priority lanes at security.
For Silver members this can be a big loss, for SkyPriority passengers it's not a huge improvement.

Originally Posted by Flying Blue
Also the priority baggage handling with corresponding yellow priority luggage tag will disappear.
Not a big loss for Silver, since at least on KLM I have rarely seen this work anyway.

Originally Posted by Flying Blue
Flying Blue Silver members may board the aircraft directly after the eligible SkyPriority passengers. The remaining Economy Class passengers will follow next.
And they expect KLM gate agents to enforce this? The same agents who have so far been unable or unwilling to implement SkyPriority are now expected to make distinctions between three categories of passengers?
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Old Dec 18, 2015, 8:05 am
  #24  
 
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Looking at this as someone who sympathises with fellow FB members: a pity.

Looking at this as the armchair CEO who tries from time to time to do the right thing for the upper levels (dedicated Plat line for instance): makes sense to make queues just a little shorter by excluding silvers. In general I am against creating a differentiated offering by taking away things from one group of people rather than introduce new benefits for those that "deserve" (from a yield point of view) to be loyalised. But sometimes exclusivity can be created by just making an existing offer less "democratic"

As a Plat who sometimes looks at the list of pax segments mentioned on the Sky Priority banners and who wonders "Why don't they just write <Everybody except if you fly for the first time, alone, and on a real cheapo fare> ?": great idea.

Last edited by San Gottardo; Dec 18, 2015 at 10:18 am
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Old Dec 18, 2015, 8:58 am
  #25  
 
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Originally Posted by irishguy28
That has nothing to do with status, or any reduction in Silver benefits. Bonus miles that you receive based on status do not count as Level Miles and therefore your status does not help you requalify any faster. There has been no recent downgrade of mileage earning.
I think the point made was that it's becoming harder and harder to earn status based on miles - which has also always been my MO.
I earned platinum in 2012 and 2013 based on miles.
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Old Dec 18, 2015, 9:10 am
  #26  
 
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Originally Posted by San Gottardo
Looking at this as someone who sympathises with fellow FB members: a pity.

Looking at this as the armchair CEO who tries from time to time to do the right thing for the upper levels (dedicated Plat line for instance): makes sense to make queues just a little shorter by excluding silvers. In general I am against creating a differentiated offering by taking away things from one group of people rather than introduce new benefits for those that "deserve" (from a yield point of view) to be localised. But sometimes exclusivity can be created by just making an existing offer less "democratic"

As a Plat who sometimes looks at the list of pax segments mentioned on the Sky Priority banners and who wonders "Why don't they just write <Everybody except if you fly for the first time, alone, and on a real cheapo fare> ?": great idea.
On a very personal standpoint, after being Gold for many years I will downgrade to silver next year so obviously I cannot be happy with it.
But you are right, there was a lack of differentiation between silver/gold/plat in many ways. But once again, instead of adding perks to the upper tiers, it's easier to remove some to the lower ones, right?
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Old Dec 18, 2015, 10:25 am
  #27  
 
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Originally Posted by Nick9251
But once again, instead of adding perks to the upper tiers, it's easier to remove some to the lower ones, right?
I fully agree, and that's what I said above.

But the thing is, with certain perks, you can't "add". When boarding a plane, there is only one or two jetways and only one or two doors. If many people use the priority boarding the jetway still becomes clogged and you still have a "traffic jam" in the aisle and headracks will still be very full, even if you're an Elite customer.

For the perk to be a real benefit it must see Elite+ pax get on board faster and have space for their hand luggage before others. Two options: have more jetways or aircraft doors - not realistic. Or just put less people in the priority boarding group. That's what they did.

So in this case I find the "taking away" justified. Same for priority luggage delivery. There are only so many luggage belts and delivery vans, etc.

It's a different story for ticket counters. If they find that the wait is too long for Elite+, just add some counters! There is no bottleneck/scarce infrastructure. At least in theory.
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Old Dec 18, 2015, 10:42 am
  #28  
 
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Originally Posted by San Gottardo
It's a different story for ticket counters. If they find that the wait is too long for Elite+, just add some counters! There is no bottleneck/scarce infrastructure. At least in theory.
The story could also be different there: Usually not a problem for SkyPriority passengers, so we can let Silver members use it too. It's a non-benefit for most people (except during IRROPS perhaps). I for one don't remember when I last used a ticket counter.
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Old Dec 18, 2015, 2:21 pm
  #29  
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Amsterdam non-Schengen departures

I understand that Silver members flying to non-Schengen destinations from Amsterdam will still be able to use the SkyPriority security (as they will be able to use the direct stairs from the check-in bypassing the regular line).
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Old Dec 20, 2015, 3:26 am
  #30  
 
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Originally Posted by San Gottardo
It's a different story for ticket counters. If they find that the wait is too long for Elite+, just add some counters! There is no bottleneck/scarce infrastructure. At least in theory.
I've been in quite a few airports where the priority counter was slower as they have one 1 counter and the non-priority has 4 or 5 counters, they they fly through and we are stuck because some arrogant business class arse starts demanding upgrades
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